Bernie Sanders on RFK Jr. and the Trump administration

(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about Trump's Health Secretary Nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Last week, Sanders participated in Kennedy's confirmation hearing, which Brennan said was "rather fiery" as both Sanders and Kennedy had some "sharp exchanges, even though Brennan said last December, Sanders spoke with CBS, saying he thinks Kennedy's "he's right about the food industry and obesity and what he says about high prices for prescription drugs."

This prompted Brennan to ask Sanders if he already decided on his vote and if he will crossover and "help Republicans confirm him," and Sanders said:

"No...I have up to now, voted for some Trump appointees. A few. I voted against most, and I'll make my decisions next week. Where Kennedy is right is, we are an unhealthy society...A point I've been making, many others have been making for a long time. One of the things that concerns me very much, and Kennedy mentioned it, is our life expectancy. How long our people live is five years less than other wealthy countries. And if you're working class in this country, you live six or seven years lower than if you are rich. It is an issue we have to deal with. And I think the kind of addictive and poisonous food that the food industry is providing our kids is one of the factors, not many. But when you have Kennedy come forward in saying he cannot, he believes, continues to believe that autism is caused by vaccines despite the fact that there have been a dozen studies over the years which disprove that. When he has other conspiracy theories, when he cannot acknowledge that if you're going to make America healthy, you've got to guarantee healthcare to all people. He was not clear about the need to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and lower prescription drug costs. So, I was not particularly happy with his presentation."

During the interview, Brennan and Sanders talked about the future and how he plans to advocate for middle class workers over the next four years.

Brennan said during the campaign, Trump and then-Vice Presidential Candidate J.D. Vance championed the working class, saying they support unions, they don't want to tax tips, they want child care tax credits and they're pro-worker, prompting her to ask Sanders if he sees any opportunities "to work with them on specific policies," and Sanders said:

"If they were telling the truth and they will go forward in trying to stand up for the working class, of course I will work with them. But I got to tell you, just last week, what Trump did is essentially neuter the National Labor Relations Board. This is something that Bezos wanted. It's something that Elon Musk wanted. What that means if you are a worker right now- and there are millions of workers who want to join a union, because they know unions will give you better wages and better working conditions, better benefits, what they have done is neuter that. So right now, union busting corporations, like Amazon and others, can do what they do against workers with impunity. That is not standing with workers. We need to raise the starvation minimum wage, which is now seven and a quarter an hour, to a living wage. I've not heard one word from the Trump administration about that."

Brennan also brought up what Vice President Vance said during an interview with her last Sunday, saying despite the big tech CEOs "giving money to the inauguration for Donald Trump," Vance "believes they have too much power in big tech and that he says they're still very much on notice," and Brennan asked Sanders if that's a place he's also concerned and if he could work with him on, to which Sanders said:

"I think Lina Khan, the former head of the FTC, did a great job, and if Vance wants to work with us on that. He's right. You have right now, not only more income and wealth inequality in this country than ever before, more concentration of ownership in the tech industry and in other industries. Do I think we should start breaking up some of these large corporations? Absolutely, I do, and we'd be happy to work with them if they're serious about that."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Sanders, click here.